


we never finished painting the skates

by noodlevault



Category: Entry Point (Video Game)
Genre: did someone say angst, im sorry, okay but it's nice in the first part
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23082559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noodlevault/pseuds/noodlevault
Summary: Sparrow was once good friends with Rose.  She has to learn how to deal with loss.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	we never finished painting the skates

"Just try it! Come on."

"I'm gonna fall!" Rose laughed as she attempted to move forward with the pair of skates Sparrow had gotten her. It was the small moments of downtime they had between life-threatening tasks that Sparrow valued the most. So there they were, trying to skate on the long expanse of road that led to their temporary safe house in the middle of nowhere.

"Just do it! The worst that'll happen is that you'll scuff up your knees or something." Sparrow had skated a lot when she was younger. She recalled those fond memories often, using them once as a form of escapism when a mission went terribly wrong.

Rose shifted her feet, succeeding in moving forward.

"That's it!" Sparrow laughed, skating up to her with ease. Rose flailed her arms as she began to lose balance, but Sparrow grasped her hand to steady her.

"Ah, thank you- WAIT WAIT WAIT NO!" Rose protested as Sparrow began to spin the both of them, making Rose go in increasingly faster circles around her.

"I'll let you go alright!" Sparrow laughed as Rose clenched her hand even tighter, trying not to be thrown at the speed she was at currently.

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"Fine, fine." Sparrow slowed her down, letting go of her hand once she was at a manageable speed. Rose still managed to fall.

"You're a jerk, you know that, right?" Rose chuckled, brushing off the dirt from her pants.

"Look at me, I'm such a bully. I bet you're scared of me, oh, you know, the one who stands at five feet." Sparrow grinned, helping Rose up from the ground.

"Not my fault you're so short."

"Not my fault you're just abnormally tall."

"Being nine inches taller then you is not abnormal. You're just short." Rose snorted, ruffling Sparrow's hair once she got up.

"Touché. Come on, I want to teach you how to skate now. For real this time." Sparrow helped Rose steady herself as she helped her skate down the road once more.

"If you try to spin me one more time I will not hesitate to vandalize your helicopter."

"Too late, I already vandalized it myself. What do you think the cases of spraypaint were for?"

"So _that's_ why it smelled like chemicals for a week or so? I couldn't imagine the old man was thrilled about that."

"Oh, he wasn't. Sucks that I'm the only one in this whole damn organization that knows how to fly a helicopter. I would have been fired by now." Sparrow laughed. "You should have seen his face when he caught me spraypainting the helicopter. He was _livid_."

"You most definitely would have been fired if it weren't for that pesky pilot training under your belt. Then I wouldn't have to deal with you stealing my food!" Rose playfully punched Sparrow's shoulder, laughing.

"Listen, it's not a real Phoenix base until the snacks in the break room fridge start mysteriously disappearing." Sparrow grinned. They had stopped skating, now just sitting on the side of the road overlooking the dense forest that shielded their safehouse from view.

"I like your cooking, though." Sparrow smiled.

"Pfft, come on. That stuff you stole isn't even my cooking. It's from Halcyon's cafeteria."

At the mention of the organization's name, they both went silent. Sparrow folded her hands together, reliving the memories of watching an operative bleed out on the seat of her helicopter, inflicted with injuries dealt by the organization. She felt helpless in that situation. All she could have done was keep driving the helicopter in hopes that they got the operative to a hospital before they died. Sparrow ended up having to clean the blood off the deceased operative's seat the following day. It was one of her many memories that she tried to suppress.

"Rose?"

"Mmhm?"

"...How do you deal with death?"

Sparrow pulled her knees up to her chest. She wouldn't cry, not in front of Rose, and definitely not because of something so trivial. Rose was silent as she thought for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was quiet.

"The first step for me? It was to acknowledge that it's okay to cry. It doesn't make you weaker or stronger than you already are. You're young, Sparrow, compared to the rest of us. I know you're not a stranger to death, but inevitably, working in this organization will lead to losing at least one person close to you."

Sparrow looked over to Rose. Her eyes were fixed on a point on the horizon.

"Now, I don't know if that's already happened to you. I most definitely hope not. But if it does, it's a good thing to just let it all out sometimes. Sure, you have to be strong for the organization, but that doesn't mean you can't feel sad towards a comrade's death. Just don't let it become emotional baggage. Carrying that weight around all the time gets painful. I speak from experience."

"Your hurt won't go away instantly. You'll probably cry every other night, or blame yourself, or do drastic things as a coping method. But eventually, you'll know when you have to move on."

Rose turned to a teary-eyed Sparrow, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"If that happens, you'll learn to be strong. For me. Promise that?" Rose gave her a slight smile.

"Promise." Sparrow nodded, blinking away stubborn tears.

Rose wrapped her into a hug, helping Sparrow up.

"Now c'mon. We should probably head back to the safe house. I have to take care of some things back at the other organization."

Sparrow nodded, taking off her skates just as Rose did. They both walked down the road in their socks, carrying the pair of skates they had on with them.

"You know what, when I get back, do you want to help me paint these?" Rose gestured to her plain white skates. "I'm thinking of like, a fire pattern or something cool like that."

"Sounds like a plan." Sparrow finally grinned. They headed inside the safehouse, and Sparrow said her goodbyes to Rose as she left.

_"It's okay to cry."_

That's what Rose had said to her yesterday.

_"You can be sad about a comrade's death. You're not weak if you are."_

Rose's words echoed endlessly in Sparrow's head as she sat in shock on the porch of the house. Her eyes were glazed open, fixed on nothing in particular. It was raining, but Sparrow felt nothing. She was numb.

It was only a few hours ago when Jackdaw had shown up at the house instead of Rose. He was expressionless. When she asked about Rose he only shook his head, disappearing into one of the rooms of the house. It didn't take long for Sparrow to put two and two together.

_"It's okay to cry."_

This was unfair.

Rose wasn't supposed to die.

Why couldn't she have died instead?

Rose would at least know how to deal with her passing. She would probably be the only one that would miss her.

She was just a good-for-nothing pilot.

Something inside Sparrow snapped, and she finally broke down into tears. Her cries were lost in the rain. But she didn't care who heard her anymore.

Sparrow made a promise to Rose. She promised that she would learn to move on. To be strong for her. Why couldn't she move on already?

_"Your hurt won't go away instantly."_

Sparrow knew she was right when she had said that. She finally lifted her head, watching the rain puddle in front of her. Sparrow clutched her knees to her chest once more, her sobs ceasing.

The door behind her opened, and the sound of heavy combat boots tipped her off that the person behind her was Jackdaw. He sat down quietly next to her.

"I'm sorry, kiddo."

His gruff voice brought Sparrow back to reality. She looked over at him. He wasn't a sniffling mess like she was, but his eyes communicated the hurt he was feeling.

"Don't blame yourself, old man." She let out a breathy laugh that transitioned into another sniff.

They sat on the porch in silence, watching the rain. Sparrow started crying again.

Jackdaw looked down at her, frowning. He pulled her closer, giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder akin to how a parent would comfort their child.

"She'll be avenged. I'll make sure of it. And you'll make Rose proud by being the best damn pilot anyone has ever seen. Got that, kiddo?"

"I'll make her proud," Sparrow repeated. "I WILL MAKE HER PROUD!"

Jackdaw gave her a slight smile, ruffling her hair like Rose often did to her.

"Now get inside before you catch a cold."


End file.
